Glasserton is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about in length, varying in breadth from , and contains .
The Parish
It is thought that the name derives from the Saxon for "bare hill". It is located near Whithorn and includes the village of Monreith, the area called Kirkmaiden and two mansions, namely Glasserton Park and Physgill, together with Woodfall Gardens. The Statistical Account remarks that the church "stands near to Glasserton-House, and is romantically embosomed in wood, which sheds around it a vernerable gloom, as if it were a druidical temple, or the sacred grove of some Syrian idol."
Legend has it that Saint Ninian, otherwise called Saint Ringan, the first Bishop of Galloway, lived for a while in a cave near Physgill by way of penitence, and he was the founder of Whithorn Abbey.
Loch and sea fishing are available, and the area is a haven for birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts. Low Knock on the outskirts of the village is an open farm where one can see the otters, ornamental ducks, and cattle.
Kirkmaiden-in-Fernis, otherwise Kirkmaiden Church, now a ruin, stood at Lag Point in the Glasserton side of Monreith Bay south. The restored chancel is the burial vault of the Maxwells of Monreith including the historian and naturalist Sir Herbert Maxwell. In 1761 Rev. James Laing was Minister of Glasserton and Kirkmaiden-in-Fernis.
Near the church is the bronze otter, sculpted by Penny Wheatley, standing as a memorial to Gavin Maxwell, the author of the book Ring of Bright Water, which was made into a successful film. Gavin Maxwell was often seen exercising his tame otter, about which he wrote his book, on the beach below the Kirkmaiden church. There is a signposted walk from the southern end of the village at Clarksburn giving an extensive view of Monreith Bay to Gavin Maxwell's otter.
Monreith
Monreith was called "Milltown of Monreith" so named by the watermills driven by the waterpower of Monreith Burn. Kirkmaiden church was one of the oldest churches in Scotland and the resting place of many of the McCulloch and Maxwell family members who had owned the Monreith estate. Legend has it that when this parish was united with Glasserton, the pulpit and bell were removed from Kirkmaiden church and were to be transported by sea across Luce Bay to a church of the same name in Kirkmaiden Parish in Rhins, Wigtownshire. A strange storm blew up and the boat foundered, sinking the pulpit and bell. The story goes that on the approaching death of any descendant of the McCullochs of Myrton, the wraith-bell rang from the depths of Luce Bay. The church is opposite the car park of St. Medans Golf Club.
In the 1870s Monreith Estate covered about and was partly in Glasserton and partly in the Mochrum area. Monreith House, still owned by the Maxwell family, is surrounded by woodlands, and looks towards the White Loch of Myrton in Mochrum area. The original home of the Maxwells was the tower house known as the "Dowies" behind the Fell of Barhullion, the highest point overlooking Monreith Village. When the Fell was owned by the Maxwell family, a member of the family boasted that he owned a Fell from which five kingdoms could be seen on a clear day, the kingdoms of Scotland, England, Ireland, Mann, and finally, the Kingdom of Heaven. The Dowies, or Old Place of Monreith, now owned by the Landmark Trust, has been renovated. It may also have been known as Moure Castle or Mowir or Mowr Castle.
Monreith has sandy beaches, quite rare on this section of the Galloway coastline, with safe swimming areas, rock pools and some interesting caves, one of which is streaked red and known as the "Butcher's Cave". The remains of a man-made flounder pool can be found at the extreme end of the Black Rocks sands and was built to catch flounders as the tide receded; at Ben Buoy, which is a sheer rock face, an interesting cave allows a very careful person to cross through the cliff and emerge in a small bay between Knock Farm and Cairndoon farm.
On 16 December 1617 Joanni Kennedie junior de Blairquhan and his wife Marie Stewart had "baroniam de Remistoun" & fortalicio and lands of Lochtoun alias Remistoun. This was also known as Ravenstone, Ravinstone and Remeston.
On 26 October 1625 Alexander Macdouell de Machrimoir (Machermore) was heir of his father Petri Macdouell de Machrimoir, to land in "parochia de Glassertoun".